“I think that should be our number one focus right now.”

This gave me chills. Last night in the continuing saga that is the CNN/YouTube debate, the Republican candidates were asked what the punishment should be for a woman who has an abortion if abortion is banned. We’ve talked about the anti-choice response to this complex question here on the Shameless blog before - it seems that no one in the pro-life movement wants to touch it, which is only further emphasized by the “pass the buck” responses of the candidates, saying “it’s not a federal function” to decide and there’s no need for a “federal abortion police.” Every (pro-life) candidate questioned said they’d let the states decide individually, should Roe V. Wade be overturned.

How I love watching a bunch of old white men talk about the future of every woman’s right to choose…

Frankly, the idea of Roe V. Wade being overturned terrifies me, as does the criminalization of abortion and the legal necessity of parental consent, all things that are mentioned by the candidates in this video. I suppose up until I saw this I really thought the idea that Roe V. Wade would be overturned was an impossibility, but after hearing one of the candidates say that is was a “number one focus” I’m not so sure. Can you even imagine if each state had a different approach to a woman’s right to choose? Most intelligent people realize that overturning Roe Vs. Wade wouldn’t keep abortions from happening, it would simply keep safe abortions from happening.

By the way, even though Giuliani said he’d let each state decide individually, he wouldn’t personally sign a federal ban on abortion - he’s firm on his pro-choice stance, but is still willing to let individual states go pro-life if they choose to do so.

What would such a decision mean for Canadians? Although I doubt abortion would be criminalized in Canada, I don’t think it bodes well for our reproductive rights if our neighbours to the south decide to take a woman’s right to choose out of her hands and put it into the hand of the state she lives in.

According to these (old, white, male) candidates America is ready to overturn Roe V. Wade, but not ready to ban abortion.